Yari no gonza (Gonza the Spearman). 1986. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda

Film

<em>Gonza the Spearman</em>. 1986. Japan. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda. Screenplay by Taeko Tomioka. With Hiromi Go, Shima Iwashita, Shohei Hino. Courtesy Janus Films

Yari no gonza (Gonza the Spearman). 1986. Japan. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda. Screenplay by Taeko Tomioka. With Hiromi Go, Shima Iwashita, Shohei Hino. In Japanese; English subtitles. 126 min.

Shinoda’s late-period drama of adulterous lovers, based on an 18th-century play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu (Double Suicide), uses the exquisitely restrained ritual of the tea ceremony to evoke the fragile social order of the Tokugawa shogunate, pent up with violent and sexual frustration. “Kazuo Miyagawa's camera finds the beauty in stone walls, sliding panels, simple gardens, rich gowns, women's faces” (The New York Times).

16mm print from The Japan Foundation; courtesy Janus Films.

This film accompanies Kazuo Miyagawa: Japan’s Greatest Cinematographer.

Sat, Apr 28, 2018, 6:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 4:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

All requests to license audio or video footage produced by MoMA should be addressed to Scala Archives at firenze@scalarchives.com. Motion picture film stills or motion picture footage from films in MoMA’s Film Collection cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For licensing motion picture film footage it is advised to apply directly to the copyright holders. For access to motion picture film stills please contact the Film Study Center. More information is also available about the film collection and the Circulating Film and Video Library.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication or moma.org, please email text_permissions@moma.org. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to archives@moma.org.